OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 48, 20 November 1920, Page 7

OUR BABIES

(By' "Hyjfcia.") • . Published trader the auspices of .the Royal Now Zealand Boclcty for the Health of Women, and Children. "It is wiser, to put up a fcnce at the top.of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at tho hot- • torn." <*.> '* DIET. The main factor with regard to the : test nourlshinc and buildine of a chil<J does not lie iu provldins an abundant supply of what are called highly nutritious and ■ easily-digested materials such. aßimilh. eircs,'etc. , " .. . . /The diet of a child ought to contain a . considerable, proportion of hard, dry,. toimh or fibrous foods which call for active chewing and mastication. The following extract frotii'the society's book. "Fcedinc and :oare or Baby," has a moat important bearing on the auestion of diet, and it Bhould be carefully studied by. our readers. .. FAK-REAOHING EFFECTS OF MASTICATORY EXERCISE. ■ Perfect, capacious jaws, and . sound, beautiful teeth cannot be built and preserved without fulilllinj; all tho simple and universal requisites < for health throughout gbabyhood and ; childhood— - especially apple dally exercise of ■ tho mouth orcans: ■. . , The .mouth Is indeed a (rreat primal "driving-station" whence the nerve-fibres carry impulses to the nerve-centres, which quicken the life and activity of overy tissuo of the body. IVhen the jaws ara UoiiiK natural, honest, hard work, the ■ whole of the rest of the oreanism is impelled to activity—the heart pumps quicker and more forcibly, tho pressure of blood in tlio arterieß rises and its Btream flows mote rapidly, even, in the very flnuer-tips; .at tho same time the digestive juices are poured out freely, not.only into the mouth, but also into the stomach and bowels, as tho result of messages transmitted' from the mouth when busily enlaced in mastication. Apart altogether from the consideration , of the building of tho teeth nnd jaws, active "mouth-exercise" is thus necessary . for -the nutrition. .growth. and health of (every orifftn of the body. ' Peedintr exercise" is the most primitive, fundamental,' and essential or all forms of exercise. A horse fed mainly on hard dry fowl (and reasonably treated in other respects) be■comes tho'ideal of strength' and "fitness." Feed the same horse with soft mashes, made from . similar- food materials, and he will become soft and "out of condition," simply because his whole organism will then lack the primary stimulation of daily, normal, activo cxercise which formerly he had to devoto to crunching tho oats etc.—activities which are nm called dealing with food provided ready ground and softened—food on which the work .has been already done by. millstones and mashing outside , the animal body. / ' . Tho spmo applios to ourselves—particularly to tho young who are always nearest, to nature.' Wo' need the exercise of active' mastication, and the only effective means of ensuring this is to start traininu at-tho dawn of life. Never let a healthy infant tako a/ meal on which, „he is not compelled to do active, work in the form of suclnne or chewing. Wo' must begin -with the baby and foster his

natural tendency to mnsttcatu., instead of dome everything In our power to make the function die out by oiausu. . ' , . , Tho Curso of PapiFocding. •• : The mother should banish from her mind tho ide'a of "nap-feeding" or "mincefeedlnc" belug the natural course to trarsue with. a chilli who h;iß teeth.: Evon milk should be used sparingly after 18 months—a pint a day being certainly ample. Diluted with water,, milk should then be used as a drink at* the close of meals, not as a fluid In which to soakand so spoil food irhicii would otherwise i ; need chewing and . insalivating. No doubt the children of the poor are often unduly stinted with regard to milk, but . omldren in general tend to be given too much milk' and cream—too 'much made fluid food which merely drains into the. stomacn—to "the exclusion of cruder materials on whicll work would have to ne_done, suited, to the natural tendencies and activities of inrancy. • Parents wbo onco Vrasp the fact that the more .exercise ii cliild ci:ui be clvon 1 tor mouth, jaws, and teeth the more he ' will tend .to thrive will not bo at a loss to find means _by vrhlch the carrying but or wnat 1s needed (yin ho ensured. Further ■ they will not let tho tyranny of hidebound custom or conventional pronrieiy nana m tne way of the.health and development of their offspring. Thus, tne •mall aHowaiiee of meat that a child may have Is best given in the form or a bone, from'which ho can i-naw' and tear ofx-with nis teeth whit is . eatable." The moro elusive tho btme surface to which «««« nlc:1 ~f l attached tad better." rtiut 11 m , u , tt .°, n , c,l0 1' <- a ten in this especially if it happens to be somewnat lean and "wholesomely touch"—will •afford a- considerable amount of very nenlttiy. stimulating, and enjoyable 're--creation; . Fortunately, the -hands and Upß.are not unwaShablel-: 5 Some of tho modern dry cereal foods, taade especially with a view to ensure thoroug— ,chewing iicd insalivation, are excellent uh an occasional chance from bread-crusts,"toast oat-cr.lie, or hard biscuit; tho only obiection to these patent that though nof'miire nutritious than ordinary whole-meal they are'decidedly expensive. „,i I 'V ! ' ovo list'of foodstuffs, capable of S^ r &f. ( '? rope J !'i? crelße f °r iaws. teeth, and digestive j/lartds, can be added to .'indefinitely. especially In .the direction of . raw, ripo fruits, nuts/ almofcdr., etc. Owinx: to the prevalence, of hydatids, one • cannot feel safo as to the use of raw salads in New Zealand, except where the eiroumstances preclude • tho. idea thai they may be infested with . hydatid/'eggs, wflicli are,so common in'.,the excretaNof our dogß and other animals. .